Easy Burritos

Mix...
15 ounce can of lack beans drained and rinsed
1 cup of cheddar or mexican blend cheese
1 pound of taco meat or 1 pound of ground beef seasonsed with 1 tablespoon chilli powder and 1 tablespoon cumin

Divide mixture among 12 tortillas

Sloppy Joes

1 pound of ground beef
1 onion minced
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons chili sauce
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar

Brown meat and onions. Add all other ingredients and simmer 15 minutes.

Serve on hanburger buns

Telluride Black Bean Tortilla Bake

A yummy freezer meal idea.

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-15oz can black beans drained and rinsed
1-16oz can stewed tomatoes (Mexican style)
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
1t chili powder
1t cumin
1/4t pepper
6 flour tortillas, fajita size
3 oz low fat cream cheese softened
1-4oz can diced green chiles, drained
1/2-1 cup shredded Moterey Jack or cheddar cheese

Cooking Day:
Brown ground beef and onion in a large skillet; drain fat. Put stewed tomatoes into a blender (or food processor) and blend just long enough to break up large tomato pieces. Add to skillet with meat. Stir in black beans, enchilada sauce; chili powder, cumin and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Spread one side of tortillas with cream cheese, topping with green chiles. Fold tortillas in half over cream cheese. Pour half the cooled meat sauce into the bottom of a lined 7x11 (I used 9x13) baking dish. Arrange the folded tortillas over sauce, overlapping if necessary. Pour the remaining sauce over the tortillas. Freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw to a slushy state. Cover dish with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until heated through. Uncover and sprinkle cheese on top; bake for 5 more minutes or until bubbly.

Jalapeno, Avacado and Bacon Burgers

These are not burgers for a night when you're in a hurry, but if you have the time they are truly magnificent. Seth's favorite for sure!!!

• 6 jalapeño chiles
• 6 slices bacon
• 3 pounds ground beef chuck
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) crumbled queso fresco
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 avocados, pitted and thinly sliced
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 6 hamburger buns, split

Can’t find queso fresco in your supermarket? Use crumbled feta or goat cheese instead.

Directions:

1. Preheat a grill to medium and place a cast-iron skillet on top. Add the chiles and cook until softened and the skin is charred, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chiles to a bowl, cover and let cool slightly. Remove and discard the stems, skin and seeds; finely chop the chiles.

2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in the skillet until crisp. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat; chop the bacon.

3. In a large bowl, combine the chopped bacon, the reserved bacon fat, the beef and half of the chiles. Form into 6 patties; season with salt and pepper.

4. In a medium bowl, combine the queso fresco, mayonnaise, buttermilk, 1 tablespoon olive oil and the remaining chiles. Season with salt and pepper, cover and refrigerate.

5. In another bowl, toss the avocados, cilantro, onion and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil; set aside.

6. Grill the burgers, flipping once, for about 10 minutes for medium-rare. Just before the burgers are finished cooking, grill the buns until toasted, about 1 minute. Place a burger on each bun bottom, top with some of the avocado salad, drizzle with some of the queso fresco dressing and set a bun top in place.

Sloppy Joes

I saw this recipe in one of my Gooseberry Patch books and tried it tonight. It was easy and it was good so I thought I would share!

1 lb ground beef
10-3/4 oz can tomato soup
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 T. vinegar
1 t. sugar
1 small onion, diced
2 T. Worcestershire sauce

Brown ground beef in a medium saucepan and drain. Add the remaining ingredients to the beef. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, until heated through.

Empanadas

I got this recipe off pbs.org/everydayfood. That's a really good website for some easy recipes if you're looking. If you just wanted these for one meal you could easily half it, but I did the full recipe, made 4 for dinner (with one left over) and froze 4.

For the Filling:

2 pounds ground pork or beef
2 medium onions, finely diced
2 jalapeño chiles, minced (ribs and seeds removed for less heat, if desired. I took them out, but would leave them in next time. They were very mild and I like a little heat.)
½teaspoon chili powder
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

For the Dough:
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup cold water
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water (do not beat until ready to bake)

Make the filling: In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, cook meat until no longer pink, breaking it up into small pieces, 5 to 7 minutes.

Add onion and jalapeños; cook until soft, 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder and tomatoes. Cook over medium until mixture has thickened, 12 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in cilantro. Let cool.

Make the dough: In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your fingers, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add just enough cold water so dough comes together.
Form empanadas. If desired, freeze on a baking sheet until firm, 2 hours. Wrap tightly in plastic; freeze in plastic bags.

To bake fresh or frozen empanadas, preheat oven to 400°. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush tops with egg wash, avoiding crimped edges. Bake until golden brown, rotating sheets halfway through, 30 to 40 minutes.

Hamburger Soup

I just made this recipe up based on things I could eat...feel free to add/remove veggies to your liking! :)

Ingredients:

1# hamburger

6 cups beef broth (I actually used au jus)

15 oz can tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 of a green pepper, chopped

3/4 c chopped onion

2 stalks celery, chopped

4 large yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed (into small chunks)

2T brown sugar

Brown the hamburger, drain. Add beef broth, tomato sauce, and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Add in all of the other ingredients, bring to a boil again, then simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.

This was so, so yummy and made quite a good sized pot! You'll have to add salt, though, to your liking. It also would have been great with green beans or carrots, but I definitely wouldn't substitute the potatoes for anything. :)

Sunni's Cheesy Enchiladas

This recipe was on the LPM blog this morning and it looked yummy to me. Just another variation of a classic. (I think even Kirsten could eat this!)

Ingredients:
(I always half this recipe)
24 flour tortillas
2 lbs. ground beef
2 lbs. Velveeta, cubed
2 cans Rotel tomatoes
4 (8-oz.) cartons sour cream
¼ cup butter
2 med. onions, chopped
1 dash garlic salt
Salt & pepper to taste

Brown meat with one chopped onion. Add garlic salt and salt and pepper. Drain. Coat large sauce pan with non-stick spray. Add sour cream and tomatoes, mix well. Add butter and heat on medium heat. Add Velveeta, stirring constantly. Add the remaining chopped onion. Turn heat to low and simmer for about 5 min. The cheese/butter should be melted by this point. Add a portion of the sauce to meat. Spoon meat mixture into tortillas. Lay in casserole dish, seam down. Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas. Cover and bake for 15 min. at 350 degrees.

Shepherd's Pie Stuffed Potatoes

A couple of you asked for this, so here it is. If you're not trying to impress anyone with a fancy meal I would make mashed potatoes seasoned the way it suggests instead of double stuffing the potatoes to save time. They do look impressive, but they are time consuming. Oh and I of course used cheddar instead of Gouda...it's just not something I have on hand!

Ingredients

• 4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed clean
• 3 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided, plus additional for drizzling
• Salt
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped, divided
• Ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 pound ground sirloin
• 1/2 pound button or cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 cups beef stock
• 2 tablespoons spicy brown or Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese

On a baking sheet, toss potatoes with a hearty drizzle of EVOO and some salt. Bake in oven until tender, about 1 hour. Let cool. Turn off oven and preheat broiler.

While the potatoes are cooling, place a medium skillet over medium-high heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon. Add the bell pepper and half of the onion to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the veggies are tender, 5-6 minutes. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut a thin slice lengthwise off of the top to expose the inside. Scoop out the potato flesh, taking care not to pierce the wall of the potato, and transfer to the bowl with the veggies (reserve the potato shells). Add the sour cream and paprika, and mash. Reserve warm.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add the ground sirloin to the pan and cook until golden brown, 5-6 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until they start to turn golden brown, 4-5 minutes.

Add the remaining onion and garlic to the pan and cook until all the veggies are tender, about 5 minutes more. Push all of the ingredients to the edge of the pan and add the butter to the skillet. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and cook for about 1 minute. Add the stock, mustard, soy sauce, Worcestershire, some salt and pepper to the skillet and stir to combine. Bring up to a bubble and simmer until thickened, 2-3 minutes.

Fill the potato shells with the beef-mushroom mixture then top each of them with the reserved mashed potatoes. Transfer to a baking sheet and sprinkle with the cheese. Pop the potatoes under the broiler until the cheese is melted and tops are golden brown.

Cowboy Spaghetti

Rachael Ray saves dinner again.... :)

Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti
Salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), 1 turn of the pan
3 slices smoky bacon, chopped
1 pound ground sirloin
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
Ground black pepper
2 teaspoons hot sauce, (eyeball it)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, (eyeball it )
1/2 cup beer
1 can, chopped or crushed fire roasted tomatoes (14 ounces)
1 can, tomato sauce (8 ounces)
8 ounces sharp Cheddar
4 scallions, chopped

Preparation:
Heat a pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and salt the water. Cook to al dente or with a bite to it.

Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add EVOO and bacon. Brown and crisp bacon, 5 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon. Drain off a little excess fat if necessary. Leave just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add beef and crumble it as it browns, 3-4 minutes. Add onions, garlic and stir into meat. Season the meat with salt and pepper, hot sauce and Worcestershire. Add 1/2 cup beer and deglaze the pan. Cook 5-6 minutes more then stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Add hot spaghetti to meat and sauce and combine. Adjust seasonings and serve up pasta in shallow bowls. Grate some cheese over the pasta and sprinkle with scallions. Garnish with crisp bacon

Spaghetti Pie

I made this last night for dinner. Fast and easy. Seth loved it so much he asked for it for dinner again tomorrow night! :)

4 ounces dried spaghetti
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces ground beef (I used closer to a pound)
1/2c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped green pepper (I omitted this)
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp fennel seeds crushed
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 tsp dried oregano crushed
1 c low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 c shredded mozzarella (I used a little cheddar too for color)

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain. Return to warm saucepan stir in butter until melted. Stir in egg and Parmesan cheese; set aside.

Meanwhile in a medium skillet cook ground beef, onion, sweet pepper, garlic and fennel seeds until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce and oregano. Heat through.

Coat a 9-inch pie pan with non-stick cooking spray. Press spaghetti mixture onto bottom and up sides of pie plate, forming a crust. Spread cottage cheese on the top and up the sides of pasta crust. Spread meat mixture over cottage cheese. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella over the top.

Bake in a 350 oven for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and heated through. To serve, cut into wedges.

Not-Sagna Pasta Toss

This is what we had for dinner last night. (Another Rachael Ray recipe) It was SO GOOD! I suggest cutting the amount of pasta in half unless you want tons of leftovers, but I would make the sauce the same way. (I like lots of sauce.) I omitted the onion and allspice because I didn't have them and substituted dried basil in the recipe for fresh on top and beef stock for the red wine. That said it was still really good and fast to make!

Ingredients
1 pound curly short cut pasta (recommended: campanelle by Barilla, fusilli or cavatappi
Coarse salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 pound ground sirloin
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, eyeball it in your palm
Black pepper
1/2 teaspoon allspice, eyeball it in your palm
1 teaspoon, several drops, Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup dry red wine (or stock)
1/2 cup beef stock
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh basil, about 20 leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls, plus some to pass at table

Directions
Heat a large pot of water to boil for pasta. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. Heads up: you will need a ladle of the starchy cooking water to help form sauce before draining.
Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add the meat and break it up into small bits as it caramelizes. Once meat has good color to it, 4 to 5 minutes, add garlic, onions and red pepper flakes and season with salt, pepper, allspice and Worcestershire sauce. Cook another 5 minutes, deglaze the meat and onions with red wine, cook off a minute, then combine about 1/2 cup of stock into the meat. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 minutes.

Place ricotta cheese in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Add a ladleful of boiling, starchy pasta water to the ricotta and stir to combine. Add a couple of handfuls of grated Parmesan to the ricotta and mix it in.

Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with cheeses. Add half the thick meat sauce to the pasta bowl and combine. Tear or shred the basil and add to the meat and pasta, toss again. Taste to adjust salt and pepper. Serve bowlfuls of Not-sagna with extra sauce on top and more grated Parmesan to pass at the table.

Mom's Candied Steak & Porcupine Meatballs

Candied Steak

1 1/2 lbs round steak cut into 1"x3" pieces
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tbs worcestershire sauce
1 cup of water

Season your meat. I use a steak rub, you can use whatever you normally use on steak. If you don't have a normal, use salt and pepper. Brown steak pieces in approx 1 tbs of... I use olive oil, but you can use shortening or veggy oil. Mix ketchup, water, worsestershire and sugar. Pour over steak and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes. Here's the tought part for me... don't let the liquid cook away. Add water if necessary. Serve over your choice of carbs. I prefer rice, but potatoes, pasta would also work. Enjoy!

Porcupine Meatballs

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 cup uncooked rice
1/4 cup milk or water
2 tbs chopped onion
1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
Dash of oregano

sauce
8 oz can tomatoe sauce
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Mix beef rice, milk, onion and seasonings. Form into 8 balls (I don't like them this big, so we make like 20 meatballs with this amount.) Fry meatballs in shortening, olive oil, whatever until brown, but not crusty. Mix sauce in bowl and pour over meatballs and cover. (I like lots of sauce, so I multiply the sauce by 3. I also really like it made with Hunts garlic, basil and oregano sauce.) Simmer for 45 minutes on low.